Kimberly Peacock, Columbia Falls standout athlete, diagnosed with leukemia
Columba Falls freshman Kimberly Peacock powers to the finish line during the Montana Cross Country Championship at Rebecca Farm last year. Peacock finished in second place. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)
A standout athlete and honor student at Columbia Falls High School is battling leukemia. Kimberly Peacock was recently diagnosed with the disease, her mother, Heather Peacock said in a Facebook post on Saturday.
Peacock was third at the state A track meet in the 3,200 meters this spring and took second place in the state A cross-country meet last fall as a freshman. She was also a key member of the girls freshman basketball team. Kimberly was diagnosed at Kalispell Regional Medical Center and was immediately flown to the Children’s Hospital of Colorado in Denver accompanied by her father, Jim Peacock, who is the Columbia Falls cross-country team coach and a biology teacher at the high school.
Tests were completed on Monday her mother said and Kimberly was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a very treatable form of the disease.
“This means she gets to come home in a month instead of staying in Denver for 6 to 8 months,” Heather said in a Facebook post. “She will continue to do chemo here in Kalispell on an outpatient basis. If she feels well enough, she should be able to attend some school.”
Kimberly hadn’t been feeling well all summer, Heather said.
Friends who would like to send cards can send them to:
Kimberly Peacock
Room 771
c/o Children’s Hospital of Colorado
13123 F. 17th P1
Aurora, CO 80045.
The Peacocks apologize for not responding to messages immediately.
“Please know that even if we haven’t responded we are very appreciative, just lacking on time and focus at the moment to follow up,” Heather said. “We are confident in our peds oncology staff here, and have heard amazing things about the Denver hospital. At this time her prognosis is good. Thank you again for all the support.”
Peacock’s diagnosis marks the third athlete in two years to be diagnosed with cancer in Columbia Falls. Football player Gabby DeLorme successfully battled leukemia for most of 2015, returning home in 2016 and soccer player Paxton Fisher died in April from complications of adenocarcinoma, an aggressive form of cancer.